The battle of 2010 on generic drugs was an advance look at how the Tory brain trust will fight the coming campaign — and hopes to win the war of 2011.

The generic drugs law brought in by the Liberals just over a year ago
aimed to curb excessively high bills for medicine in Ontario pharmacies —
and sparked an unprecedented campaign-style conflict. The lessons
learned will be studied by both the Tories and Liberals in the coming
campaign.

Across the province, Liberal MPPs in vulnerable ridings have been targeted. The Tory brain trust has sharpened its pencils and done the numbers.

First, the research identifies which Liberal MPPs to take down. Next, the war room deploys its campaign machine to publish their names and photographs in newspapers ads, followed by personal lobbying from call centres.

So is this a sneak peak at the Progressive Conservative campaign for the Oct. 6 provincial election?

No, this column is a look back at the battle of 2010 for the hearts and minds of voters on a controversial government proposal — and the corporate interests that tried to counter it: The generic drugs law brought in by the Liberals just over a year ago aimed to curb excessively high bills for medicine in Ontario pharmacies — and sparked an unprecedented campaign-style conflict. The lessons learned will be studied by both the Tories and Liberals in the coming campaign.

When the chain drug stores and independent pharmacists banded together for a no-holds barred fight against the government, they went to Crestview Strategies Inc., a consulting firm well known for its focus on opinion research — and opinion change.

Crestview’s founder, Mark Spiro, is now the campaign manager for the provincial Tories. A Crestview partner, Chad Rogers, is the PCs’ volunteer campaign secretary overseeing research, messaging and advertising. Neither would agree to be interviewed for this column, citing their corporate policy that prevents them from confirming or discussing any work they do for clients.

They are both seasoned political warriors. Spiro has been a high-profile presence on past federal Tory campaigns, and works for right-wing politicians from Australia to Israel. Now they are trying to make PC Leader Tim Hudak Ontario’s next premier.

For the Liberals, last year’s Crestview campaign was an advance look at what they can expect from the same brain trust in the coming election: The pharmacists’ lobby targeted 25 key Ontario ridings held by Liberal MPPs. The goal of this bare-knuckles campaign was to bloody the government’s nose, putting pressure on Health Minister Deb Matthews as she rolled out her new policy.

Residents received unsolicited phone messages condemning the drug policy. The calls were then re-routed to their local MPP’s office — a tactic known as “patch-calling” — to ratchet up the pressure.

Matthews was also targeted. Some pharmacies in her London riding curtailed their hours and reduced deliveries (or added fees). Her ministry was bombarded by 18,000 form letters.

After a few tense weeks, the tide turned. Matthews cut a sympathetic, grandmotherly figure, standing up to powerful corporate interests. The toolbox used by the big chains looked like overkill.

“Some of the tactics they used backfired on them,” Matthews told me. Armed with research showing how generic drug companies were paying $750 million a year in “professional allowances” to pharmacists — essentially kickbacks — government MPPs held firm.

Now, some pharmacists hope to hold sway by having their say in a new PC government should Hudak win power. Three of them are running as Tory candidates, including Ben Shenouda (Brampton West), head of the Independent Pharmacists of Ontario (who wrote direct mail appeals targeting Liberal MPPs last year). Hudak hasn’t said what he would do about generic drugs pricing if he were elected.

Matthews believes there is no turning back. Despite the Liberals’ steady decline in the polls, she is counting on voters to give them credit for past battles. But we won’t know until Oct. 6 whether the Liberals won the battle of 2010 only to lose the war of 2011.

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